Wang Yi talks about promoting the implementation of the outcomes of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in six aspects

On January 6, 2019 local time, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Foreign Minister Sidiki Kaba of Senegal jointly met the press after their talks in Dakar. A journalist asked how China and Senegal, as co-chairs of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), could jointly push forward the implementation of the outcomes of the FOCAC Beijing Summit.

Wang Yi said that the FOCAC Beijing Summit in 2018 was a great success. It is of epoch-making significance in the history of China-Africa relations and has also played a leading and exemplary role in international cooperation with Africa.

Wang Yi said that practicality and efficiency are the distinctive features of cooperation between China and Africa as well as the unique advantages of the FOCAC. After the Beijing Summit, the Chinese Follow-up Committee began to make plans, clarify the division of labor and draw up a road map for the implementation of the outcomes. At the same time, the Committee actively sorted out priority areas and key projects of cooperation with African countries. In the next stage, the Chinese side will stay in close communication with the African side, in particular Senegal, co-chair of the FOCAC, to advance the following work in an orderly manner:

First, we should build an even closer community with a shared future for China and Africa. The biggest destabilizing factor in the current international situation is the rise of unilateralism and bullying, which impacts international rules and multilateral frameworks. It poses a challenge to the revitalization and future of the vast number of developing countries in the first place. China is the biggest developing country, and Africa is the continent with the greatest concentration of developing countries. We both realized that we are a community with a shared future more than ever. It is necessary for us to speed up the building of an even closer community with a shared future and join hands to cope with all kinds of attempts to deter our development process according to the goals clarified at the FOCAC Beijing Summit, so as to jointly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of China and Africa as well as that of developing countries.

Second, we should promote the in-depth integration between the cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative with the Agenda 2063 of the African Union (AU). Africa has become an important direction of the international cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative. 37 African countries including Senegal and the AU have signed the cooperation documents under the Belt and Road Initiative with China. We are ready to work with our African brothers and sisters to explore more opportunities for cooperation and expand broader space for cooperation in the integration between the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative and the AU Agenda 2063, in a bid to let the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative between China and Africa achieve more outcomes on the African continent.

Third, we should work out country-specific plans to implement the outcomes of the Summit based on actual conditions. African countries have different national conditions and aspirations. We will, in light of each country's needs and the Chinese side's capacity, work with African countries to jointly discuss the implementation of country-specific plans of the eight major initiatives, and allocate aid, loans, investment and other resources in a rational way to make them more targeted and at the same time ensure their universal benefits. At the same time, we should strengthen the overall planning of transnational and trans-regional cooperation and actively give play to the coordinating role of the AU.

Fourth, we should promote China-Africa cooperation for innovative development as well as improvement in quality and efficiency. We are willing to encourage Chinese enterprises to carry out more direct investment toward Africa, support enterprises in expanding cooperation patterns by way of investment-construction-operation or through public-private partnerships and other models, and promote the benign interaction between infrastructure construction and industrial development, so as to enhance the endogenous impetus of Africa's economic development, and effectively reduce the fiscal burden and financial risks. We should speed up high-tech cooperation in countries where conditions permit and constantly improve the cooperation quality and level.

Fifth, we should let the Chinese and African people truly benefit from the outcomes of the FOCAC Summit. China-Africa cooperation has upheld the people-centered concept, and the outcomes of the Summit will naturally focus on the areas of people's livelihood. The eight major initiatives will make new contributions to poverty reduction, employment, income increase and improvement of lives of people in Africa and bring tangible benefits to more ordinary African people.

Sixth, we should encourage international cooperative partners to make joint efforts. The success of the FOCAC Beijing Summit has mobilized and inspired the international community to pay more attention to Africa. We welcome more countries to increase investment in Africa, give play to their respective advantages and take an active part in cooperation with Africa. China's cooperation with Africa adheres to openness and transparency. We are ready to consult with African countries and explore trilateral or multilateral cooperation with Africa. We always believe that in conducting cooperation with Africa, we should first respect the will of Africa, listen to its voice and respond to its needs, and in particular, give priority to Africa. Africa should be a big stage for cooperation among all countries, but not an arena for competition among major countries.